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(Un)comfortably Numb: A Prison Requiem

SKU# 9781842820018

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Maureen Maguire

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Told in documentary form this is the story of the tragedy of Yvonne Gilmour?s death in Cornton Vale prison. Yvonne was one of eight inmates to take their own lives in a short period of time at the prison, her story is representative of many women in prison today.

There has been a steady increase in women prisoners since 1991, most of these women are not criminals (only 1% are convicted for violent crimes) and two-thirds are between the ages of fifteen and thirty. Yvonne was one of these vulnerable young women.

The book asks relevant questions about the nature of society and shows that an alternative to prison is needed for vulnerable girls.

This is a powerful and moving indictment of 21st century Britain, told in the real voices of women behind bars, by a solicitor and teacher of many years experience.
Additional Information
Title (Un)comfortably Numb: A Prison Requiem
Author Maureen Maguire
Binding Paperback
ISBN-13 9781842820018
No. of Pages 256
Series N/A
Edition 1
Author Bio N/A
Back Cover Copy ""People may think I?ve taken the easy way out but please believe me this is the hardest thing I?ve ever had to do.""

It was Christmas Eve, the atmosphere in Cornton Vale prison was festive, the girls in high spirits as they were locked up for the night. One of their favourite songs, Pink Floyd?s Comfortably Numb, played loudly from a nearby cell as Yvonne Gilmour wrote her suicide note. She was the sixth of eight inmates to take their own lives in Cornton Vale prison over a short period of time.

[Un]comfortably Numb follows Yvonne through a difficult childhood, a chaotic adolescence and drug addiction to life and death behind bars. Her story is representative of many women in our prisons today. They are not criminals (only 1% are convicted for violent crimes) and two-thirds are between the ages of fifteen and thirty. Suicide rates among them are rising dramatically. Do these vulnerable young girls really belong in prison?

This is a powerful and moving story told in the words of those involved: Yvonne and her family, fellow prisoners, prison officers, social workers, drug workers. It challenges us with questions which demand answers if more deaths are to be avoided.
Reviews ?Uncomfortably Numb is not a legal textbook or a jurisprudential treatise?it is an investigation into something our sophisticated society can?t easily face? AUSTIN LAFFERTY
Table of Contents N/A
BISAC Subject SOCIAL SCIENCE / Criminology
BIC Subject Crime & criminology

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